Program providers supply content segments to viewers over various communications networks. Such content segments may include videos streamed, for example, over the Internet and received at a browser. Content segments also may include video advertisements that accompany, or in some way relate to the videos. Content segments also may be accessed using an application on a mobile device. Other content segments and other distribution methods are possible.
Program providers and advertisers may be interested in knowing what content segments are accessed or viewed. In the context of television viewing, a determination of viewing history is manageable. However, in the context of video content segments provided over the Internet, determining which video content segments are being viewed, or that have been viewed, and associated metrics data such as number of views, is becoming increasingly difficult to the point of being unmanageable because of the very large and ever-growing libraries of such video content segments available on the Web using devices such as smart televisions, games consoles and set top boxes. As these libraries increase in size, traditional counting solutions become intractable.